Category: News

It was a great weekend. Not too hectic and time to catch up with some things that have been on my “to-do” list for awhile. I’m even half packed for my trip next week. The next couple of days will go by in a whirlwind of activity and before I know it, I’ll be gone. I need to work on my list of instructions to leave behind for Leigh, you know like “feed the dog, take out the trash, water the plants, etc.”

This week has been hectic. This evening I left the office early – being Good Friday, nothing was happening at work anyway. I took Logan to the JICP to socialize with other canines. Had a great idea to do this photo collage of doggie faces for my photo-a-day and I will post tomorrow. Marcia tagged me for one of her impromptu soirees this evening. I had plans to do all kinds of chores, but thanks to her I am now way too sleepy …………………….

I leave for my South African trip a week from tomorrow and I still feel completely disorganized in terms of being prepared – leaving stuff running here, paying bills ahead of time, packing etc. I have family from Annapolis arriving later tonight for a couple of days. They are doing the quintessential college evaluation road trip, having visited Clemson earlier and planning to check out the College of Charleston over the next couple of days. This evening I took this technically unacceptable shot of our new crop of ducklings out on the pond. From 16 we are already down to only 9, but hopefully most of the rest will survive.

Yesterday I had an assignment to photograph a bunch of kids at an Easter egg hunt. The weather was great and all the plans came together and the kids had a great time. We had a live bunny as a photo prop and I know he slept even better than I did last night. Linda came along and helped out with a second camera; a good thing because it was a challenge to keep up with them all. She turned the camera on me in this photo – we took turns to calm down the bunny! There are more photos here http://www.vanessak.com/gallery/7775722_W5cCL#506549154_JLpKW/

I have been bad this week with this blog. Very uninspired. The weather definitely has a lot to do with it – constant rain and dreariness. I will make up for it soon with lots of hopefully interesting commentary and photographs of South Africa. It’s a funny thing about pending vacations; the closer they get, the more desperately you seem to need them. I’m sure it’s all in the mind. One thing I’m not looking forward to is the long trip – Charleston, Detroit, Amsterdam, Cape Town plus a 6 hour time difference. I guess everything comes with a price. Logan gets to be featured today – what a cute dog.

Back to work – I would definitely vote for a president who promised to introduce 3-day weekends. It seems we go so fast and so hard all weekend long trying to fit in everything that we can’t do from Monday to Friday that by Sunday night we’re exhausted. At least I am. Maybe I just need a more potent daily vitamin.

This has been a very adventurous weekend – albeit unintentionally. Today in my efforts to get a unique marsh perspective on Edisto, I almost succumbed to the pluff mud. In fact my boots are now buried somewhere, to be discovered in a couple centuries, studied and labeled as historic artifacts. I should have known better, but it’s a reminder that it may look innocuous, but trust me, it can be dangerous. This image is of Sunnyside Plantation, Edisto Island. It was built in approximately 1870 and is significant as one of the few remaining, relatively intact, immediate post-Civil War sea island cotton plantations on Edisto.
The day before at a sidewalk cafe in Savannah, a gust of wind lifted my paper plate full of beef curry and rice (with peas, carrots, etc.) and distributed it evenly from my neck (including hair) to my knees. Since I was away from home and had no opportunity to change, I spent the rest of the day thus decorated.